


Coffee Flavored Love

by fatalvibecheck



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, I'll add more character and ship tags as this progresses, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 23:00:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30079632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatalvibecheck/pseuds/fatalvibecheck
Summary: College isn't cheap! Between (overpriced) classes, (overpriced) books, and (overpriced) housing, Annie Leonhart needs a way to pay for school while still affording the necessities of life. And by that, she mainly means coffee.Why not kill two birds with one stone and work at the local coffee shop?She spends most of her time there, anyways. Inhaling caffeine, studying, maybe sneaking a few glances at the cute regular sitting just a few tables away...Hell, maybe the job will include the bonus perk of getting to talk with him! With her luck, anything could happen.And anything does happen. From interesting first encounters to even more interesting mishaps, this whole first job ordeal sure is working out in strange ways for Annie and company.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	Coffee Flavored Love

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the first draft of this FF back in 2014, which is crazy to think about! Though I never finished it due a lack of confidence in myself, I've always had a soft spot for this story.
> 
> I don't have a posting schedule set for this, but I do hope that you'll stick around for the ride! Thank you so much for being here, and I hope you enjoy 🌻💛

“Why do these damn things take so long to fill out,” Annie mumbled as she typed and clicked away at her laptop, filling out an application to the local coffee shop. “I just want to work there, not sell my body and soul to them.”

Her fingers slammed against the keyboard and she could feel her already thin patience fraying with each passing second. After almost an hour of answering meaningless questions she knew they were just going to ask her again at the interview, checking off countless boxes of standard information, and complaining about it the entire time, Annie was starting to feel as if the torture would never end. __

_ And _ she was getting hungry. Not a great combination.

The sound of laughter followed by the clacking of wheels against hardwood flooring made her turn around. Watching her childhood friend, Reiner, make his way towards her with a grin on his face almost made her laugh. Almost. Annie barely managed to conceal the sound with a sigh as he pulled up next to her. 

“Didn’t you know,” he started, an amused expression on his face as he elbowed her gently in the side. As if his silly antics didn’t get her attention already. “Getting a job is the exact same thing as selling your body and soul. The pay is usually pretty shitty, though.”

Before Annie could get a word in, Bertolt was there, wrapping his arms around Reiner’s neck and leaning on his shoulder. “It’s true, you know. I’m pretty sure my soul is completely gone already and I just started my job last week.”

Annie snorted at that and turned around in her chair so she could smirk at the tall boy. She had a feeling that the fast food industry and her gentle giant of a friend wouldn’t mix too well. Turns out she was right (as usual). “I still can’t believe you’re working at that shithole.” 

It wasn’t as if she had anything against the job itself. Hell, she was about to start similar work if all went well. But working with anything food related in college town was bound to be an interesting experience, to put it nicely. They were both in for a rollercoaster of experiences, the only difference being that Annie would be working mornings and Bertolt was on night shift. 

“H-hey...it’s not that bad,” Bertolt replied, ducking his head. He was a  _ bit _ on the fence about his job and, sure, the hours weren’t the best, but it was something. “Besides, I need to get through college and it’s not going to pay for itself.” 

Annie shrugged in response. She couldn’t argue with that logic. 

“Damn skippy,” Reiner said, reaching up and squeezing Bertolt’s cheeks in his hands. “Besides, you look so handsome in the drive-through window with your work shirt and hat.”

Bertolt was already starting to blush, trying and failing to pull away from his boyfriend’s grip. But Reiner wasn’t going to let him go that easy. “I love a man in uniform,” he said, dealing the final blow with a wink and a kiss to Bertolt’s chin. 

Annie watched as the chaos of flying limbs, laughter, and distressed Bertolt noises ensued. There was never a dull moment when she spent time with those two. But right now she needed to focus, dammit. 

“Could you two be obnoxiously gay somewhere else? I need to finish this.” She could hardly contain her amusement as she attempted to look stern. She knew she wasn’t fooling anyone into thinking that she wasn’t enjoying this much needed distraction, but luckily her friends were understanding and knew when to settle down.

“Yes ma’am,” Reiner said, propelling his chair backwards and almost running poor Bertolt over, who narrowly escaped by jumping onto Annie’s bed. “But after you’re done, we’re doing something fun.”

“If by fun you mean going out for coffee, I’m in,” she replied. Her offer was met with sounds of approval, and the trio drifted into a comfortable silence once again. 

With something to look forward to in the back of her mind, Annie got back to working. Thankfully, there wasn’t much left for her to do. Just a few more pages of bullshitting and revisions, and then she was pressing the submit button. 

“Fucking finally,” she sighed in relief, stretching her arms over her head and letting out a yawn. Yeah, this coffee trip was much needed.

“I was starting to get tired of watching you,” Reiner joked, slapping her on the back as form of congratulations. If she wasn’t so used to years of his heavy-handedness, she would have probably slammed into her desk. Instead, she barely even flinched, opting to simply glare at him while he smiled fondly back at her.

Bertolt shook his head, a fond look of his own spreading across his features. Placing his hands on his friend’s shoulders, he gave them both a pat before cocking his head towards the door. “Let’s get you two out of here before Reiner dies, okay? If we leave now, we may be able to avoid lunchtime rush.”

“Why do I always have to be the one to die?” Reiner whined as he got up from his chair to retrieve his jacket. As he and Bertolt debated their survivability in a fight against Annie, she closed up shop and grabbed her jacket and keys. 

“On a normal day you  _ might _ stand a chance,” she said, butting in between her friends as they stood by the door. “But when I’m hungry and caffeine deprived like right now? Sorry, buddy, but you’re going down.”

The sound of laughter followed Annie as she exited her dorm, but she was anything but amused by the sight of way too many people milling around in the hallway. It was almost noon, and she knew  _ damn well _ that most of the students in her housing section had classes right now. Why they were blocking her path instead was a mystery.

A mystery that Annie had no intentions of sticking around to solve.

Shoving her way past anyone who didn’t move after a mumbled, “excuse me”, Annie was just about ready to explode by the time she reached the elevator. The down button received much abuse within the few moments that she waited for it to arrive. 

“Ya know,” Reiner started, forcing down a grin. Being sarcastic with a hangry Annie was risky enough as it was. He wasn’t prepared to lose his life over a poorly executed joke. “It wouldn’t hurt to learn a little patience, Annie. Especially if you’re going to be working with... _ people _ .”

“You know what  _ else _ wouldn’t hurt, Reiner,” Annie replied, keeping her eyes locked on the mirror-like surface of the elevator doors as they opened. “Minding your own goddamn business.”

It took all of her strength to not laugh when Reiner nearly busted a gut and tripped his way onto the elevator. 

*******

As it turns out, Bertolt was right (as usual). Once they got outside, Annie’s mood improved immensely, murderous intent only a dull flame in her eyes now. The trio decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walked to their destination, laughing and joking the entire way. 

Annie’s good mood only increased once they entered the coffee shop. The smell of freshly ground beans, warm pastries, and other heavenly things wafted in the air, travelling straight to her eagerly awaiting nose. She paused in the doorway to take it all in. 

Was she being dramatic? Maybe. 

Did she care? Unlikely.

_ “God _ , I’ve missed this place,” she said, almost nostalgically. 

Berthold rolled his eyes, although affectionately. “Annie, you were just here this morning.”

“That is completely irrelevant,” she replied with a dramatic wave of her hand as she walked towards the counter.

“Whatever, drama queen,” Reiner said as he caught up with her determined stride. “What do you want so we can pay for you, your highness?”

Annie snorted as Reiner bowed at her, crossing her arms and trying to look as queenly as possible while she pretended to think on her order. She knew what she wanted before she even got here. Of course she did. Annie rarely ever changed what she got when it came to coffee: a simple but effective Green Eye. It got her through the important parts of her day and that’s all that she could ask for in this bitch of a life. 

Though some may argue, Annie wasn’t crazy. Her regular drink had three shots of espresso in it already, and while she  _ could _ do six shots in one day, Annie knew she probably shouldn’t. 

When she stopped by the shop that morning, she did something a little different. As nonchalant as she could be, Annie turned around and looked towards the tables by the windows. There, she found the source of this morning’s routine break. 

A blond-haired, blue-eyed boy sat hunched over a notebook. Eyebrows furrowed together in deep concentration, a pencil in one hand and his drink in another; the perfect picture of academic suffering at its finest. He was at the shop every day around the times when Annie showed up, always at the same table with the same drink. 

In a way, Annie felt a connection with this handsome stranger. She knew next to nothing about him aside from his drink order (because knowing Jean Kirstein came in handy _ sometimes _ ). And that he would occasionally come in with his friends Eren and Mikasa, who Annie shared a few classes with but had never talked to before. She didn’t even know his name (because knowing Jean Kirstein was a _ curse  _ more often than not). But something about him felt familiar, friendly. 

Annie would get the courage to talk to him one day. 

Just not today.

Tearing her thoughts back into focus, Annie thought about the drink she tried this morning. A Dirty Chai with mocha. She had never been a big fan of chai, but she supposed that it couldn’t hurt to try this variation. She liked espresso! She liked mocha! What could go wrong with that combination? And if  _ he  _ liked it so much that he got it over and over again, then it couldn’t be horrible.

And so, Annie found herself asking Jean to give her whatever the person in front of her got that morning. The guy was far too nosy for his own good and Annie barely escaped the interaction without committing a crime, but she eventually got what she wanted. Mostly.

Lo and behold, she ended up not feeling strongly either way about the drink. It definitely wasn’t her style, but it had a certain charm to it. Quite like the stranger who so fully captured her interest. 

Shaking her head at the memory, Annie turned around before she got caught staring. Much to her relief, it seemed as if the two lovebirds were busy deciding on what they wanted, themselves. She waited for them to finish, and when they asked if she was ready she informed them that yes, she was in fact  _ born _ ready.

While Reiner and Bertolt placed their orders and paid, Annie wandered over to her regular spot. A window seat with the perfect view of city construction. 

Not that it mattered, but she was also two tables away from the blond boy’s. It wasn’t like she cared that she sat so close to him or anything. It’s just that he wasn’t bad to look at, and Annie thought she deserved something nice to rest her gaze upon after hours of staring at a computer screen, or the back of some asshole’s head in class. Sitting down, she let her mind and eyes wander, laying her head in her palm as her elbow rested against the table.

It wasn’t long before Reiner and Bertolt joined Annie, sliding her the pick-me-up she so desperately needed. And thankfully so. Annie didn’t even realize she was blatantly staring until Bertolt called her name. If she stored away the memory of Mocha Chai Boy biting his lip in concentration, that was for her to know and no one to find out.

The first sip of Annie’s drink was, without exaggeration, immaculate. A few moments passed in comfortable silence as the three friends savored their coffee. The atmosphere was soon broken, though, by Reiner.

“Just so you know, his name is Armin. Armin Arlert.” His voice was soft enough that only Annie and Bertolt would be able to hear him. But the laughter in Reiner’s eyes as the seven stages of grief flashed through Annie’s was louder than thunder. 

Annie had to clutch at her chest to not choke on the coffee she just gulped down. Smooth.

“What are you talking about?” she tried, though she knew there was no fooling anyone now. 

This time, Bertolt chimed in. “We’re not stupid, Annie. We saw the way you were obviously staring at him while we waited for the drinks.”

Damn it all.

“I was  _ not _ staring at him,” Annie said, a bit too quickly; a bit too angrily. She flinched and took a deep breath. She was being  _ way _ too defensive about this.  _ Keep it cool, Annie _ , she thought as she took another sip of her drink as calmly as she could. It wasn’t even that serious. So what if she found someone attractive? It wasn’t the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Either way, she knew her friends weren’t going to let it go.

“Of course you weren’t, dear,” came Reiner’s reply, dripping with sickly sweet sarcasm. 

“Fuck you,” was Annie’s half-hearted comeback.

Leaning in close, Bertolt gave Annie an apologetic look. Always the good cop to Reiner’s bad cop, he added substance to the otherwise empty conversation. “Why don’t you just talk to him some time,” he suggested, albeit reluctantly. He wasn’t used to giving advice like this. Was he even qualified to? He could hardly talk to people, himself. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to ask Reiner out when he did. But Annie was his friend; his best friend, at that. And he had her best interests in mind. 

“He’s a really nice guy. I worked on a project with him last semester and he was cool.”

Leaning back in her chair, Annie huffed in annoyance. “I’m sure he is, Bert,” she deadpanned, averting her eyes from his observant gaze. “But, first of all, I’m about as boring as they come. And secondly, I’m not very good at starting up _ friendly  _ conversations if you haven’t noticed.”

Reiner looked like he wanted to say something, but Bertolt was feeling bold. There had been plenty of times in the past where Annie refused to let him talk badly about himself. He finally had the chance to return the favor, and he wasn’t about to let it go. 

“First of all, I know you’re not talking about my best friend like that,” he said, repeating words he heard Annie tell him plenty of times before. “You’re not boring, Annie. You’re smart and funny and  _ kind _ . Just because you don’t take people’s nonsense, that doesn’t make you unfriendly.”

Annie could do nothing but sit in awed silence as Bertolt’s words sank in. She always knew her pep talks would come back to bite her in the ass one day. But not like this. Never like this. 

Taking the pause in conversation as a sign to act up, Reiner pulled Bertolt in for an affectionate noogie. “That’s my man!” he exclaimed, causing several customers to look their way in confusion. 

It probably only took Bertolt a minute or so to get out of Reiner’s grasp, but to Annie it felt like years as she mulled over her friend’s words. Bert must have said all of those things because they’ve known each other for forever, right? He was just being nice.

But there must be at least a  _ little _ bit of truth to his words. If they stayed friends for as long as they had, Annie must be doing  _ something _ right. 

As her friends calmed down, Annie could only feel herself getting more worked up. Her mind was running a mile a minute, thoughts racing. Bertolt’s hand covering her own finally snapped her out of personality crisis mode.

“Hey,” he said, and Annie reluctantly looked him in the face. “I know it’s easier said than done, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Annie groaned, though she didn’t pull away from the comfort of Bertolt’s hand. “Au contraire, mon ami, it can. And knowing me, it probably will. A lot.”

“You’re so dramatic.” Reiner pulled his chair around the circular table so he was sitting close enough to wrap his arm around Annie’s shoulder. “Bert’s right, though. About everything. You deserve to give it a shot.”

Looking between her friends for any traces of insincerity, which she knew she wouldn’t find, Annie heaved out a sigh and threw her hands up in defeat. They were right (as usual), and she knew it.

“Alright, alright, you win.” She rolled her eyes at the looks of triumph on their dorky faces, silently thanking them for always knowing just what to say. “When I get this job, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk with him, right?”

There was mutual agreement about that statement and Annie was pleased. She knew that, regardless, she would have to talk to the kid at  _ some _ point. Whether it was in a class or on the job, she had a feeling that the universe would find a way to bring them together somehow.

If only she knew just how true that feeling would prove to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for reading my story!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated. I'd love to hear what you think 🥰
> 
> Until next chapter, I hope your days are filled with happiness and love!
> 
> ~ Strange 👽


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